This article analyses the importance of international commercial service transactions relating to both trade and investment, which form an essential element of analyzing production fragmentation and economic integration in Asia. Following an aggregative analysis the authors discusses data...

In order to advance regional integration in East Asia, there needs to be a rapid expansion of FTAs. The obstacles in promotion of FTAs need to be resolved. Some of the features in realising FTAs are: Strong political leadership which keeps Japan's future firmly in mind; strong support from public;...

A lively debate is taking place over the impact of free trade agreements (FTAs) on East Asia's business between those who view the agreements as a harmful Asian "noodle bowl"—i.e., overlapping regional trade agreements—of trade deals and others who see net beneficial effects in...

Lack of full regional connectivity is one of the major constraints hindering regional growth and integration in Asia, as well as with the rest of the world. One of the conclusions of this paper is that Asia must strengthen its physical connectivity to make it a conduit for international trade...

Regional economic integration agreements are considered to be important policy mechanisms to address regional developmental asymmetries. The Asian reality is characterized by developmental asymmetries across countries on the one hand and a lack of comprehensive pan-Asian formal regional economic...

This paper investigates the relationship between capital account openness and inflation since the 1980s. It argues that widespread capital account liberalization during the last two decades appears to have contributed to the worldwide disinflation observed during the same period. The paper...

Despite numerous empirical studies examining various facets of the topic, the degree of intraregional financial integration in East Asia remains a matter of vigorous debate. This paper offers a selective survey of the recent empirical literature on financial integration, the focus being on...

While talk of a 'China-India axis complete with 2.4 billion people' is no doubt fanciful, the progress in relations over the seven years following the nuclear crisis of 1998 is claiming the close attention of observers of world poliitics. Above and beyod their potential economic synergy, the...

The status of public services is one of the most hotly debated issues surrounding the GATS. There are two approaches to distinguish such services from any other services: an institutional approach that focuses on the legal and institutional conditions governing supply (e.g. ownership status,...

This paper dwells on the essential requirements of economic development and the role of international credit,. It is also an incursion into the operational principles and strategies of the World Bank and IMF. Finally it analyzes the implication of the World Bank and IMF to economic growth and...